Our Story

Brenda Barrett is the editor of the Living Landscape Observer, a site providing commentary on landscape scale conservation, historic preservation and sustainable communities. Formerly she was the Director of the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation in the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, prior to that position she worked for the National Park Service in Washington DC. A board member of US ICOMOS, she is an expert member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes.

Michele Kittell Connolly has 20+ years of experience in curriculum development, program design, and fundraising in the conservation education field.  She works with non-profit leaders to synthesize their ideas and visions into grant ready content.  Michele believes educating youth about our conservation heritage can empower them to make a difference today!

Martha Moon has held the position as the PA Conservation Heritage Project intern since January 2024, working on research and stories for the Pennsylvania Conservation Heritage Project as well as serving as a member of the Advisory Board. She graduated with her Master’s in Applied History from Shippensburg University in December of 2023, concentrating in Museum Studies. Utilizing her passion for conservation, Martha has focused on preserving black history stories of PA’s camps in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930’s, as well as highlighting diversity and inclusion among current conservation leaders.

Marci Mowery is the President of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, a statewide non-profit organization that builds on the legacy of conservation by engaging the public in our state parks and forests. Prior to taking the helm of the Foundation, she spent 12 years with the National Audubon Society in various positions, most recently Director of Education. Her background in education, environmental studies, and as a board member for an historic preservation society, serve her well in her role with the Conservation Heritage Project.

Linda A. Ries is a retired archivist with the Pennsylvania State Archives, where she spent 35 years. She is currently the editor Pennsylvania History, the scholarly journal of the Pennsylvania Historical Association.    

Dr. Allen Dieterich-Ward is a professor of history and director of The Graduate School at Shippensburg University.  His first book, Beyond Rust: Metropolitan Pittsburgh and the Fate of Industrial America won the 2016 Arline Custer Memorial Award from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. His second book, Cradle of Conservation: An Environmental History of Pennsylvania is now available from Temple University Press. He is the past president of the Pennsylvania Historical Association, former editor of the Pennsylvania History Series, and a board member of PA Humanities.

Edwin K. Charles was an Army veteran. He had a B.S. in Geography and an M.S. in Geography and Regional Planning. He worked for the Pennsylvania State Museum and retired from teaching. Ed was the founder and coordinator of the Trails and Trees Environmental Center in the Mechanicsburg Area School District. He worked as curator of Geology at the Oakes Museum of Natural History and taught Geology at Messiah College. His major interests were in geologic preservation, the Susquehanna River, outdoor education, and promotion of Pennsylvania’s conservation heritage.

Bill Forrey is a retired state park director, who worked along side Maurice K. Goddard to build the state park network in Pennsylvania. Bill is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, active with the Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society, and an educator on parks and recreation for York College. Bill serves as the historian of state parks, having written two books on their history.

Cara Williams Fry was the Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer for WITF. Williams Fry oversaw all of WITF’s content departments, including WITF TV, WITF 89.5 & 93.3, witf.org, WITF’s Programming & Education departments, as well as the content created for Central PA Magazine. She was one of the original members of the Maurice Goddard Legacy Committee and served on the PA Conservation Heritage committee.

Beth Hager is a public historian who has worked in museums and public media for 30 years.  She has created major exhibitions and produced nationally distributed historical documentaries including “Stephen Foster” for the PBS series American Experience.  Beth was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and worked with partnering organizations and staff to re-envision the natural history interpretive program at The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.  Her key projects at the museum included the restoration of the iconic Mammal Hall, the creation of the hands-on demonstration space “Nature Lab,” and the curation of a new natural history changing gallery space.

Katie Hess has degrees in landscape/regional design and planning from Pennsylvania State University (Master of Landscape Architecture, 2012) and Environmental Science and Policy (B.A. Hood College, 2006) and previously worked for the Pennsylvania Bureau for Historic Preservation, the state agency that works to conserve Pennsylvania’s historic and cultural resources. Katie is a native of the South Mountain landscape, having grown up in Franklin and Adams Counties – where she learned how important a factor the land can be in shaping our quality of life and identity. Her experiences have led her to be an advocate for conserving resources, preserving ‘sense of place,’ and community self-determination, and her work focuses on collaborating with others to create culturally, environmentally, and economically sustainable solutions to community challenges.

For over 35 years as a transportation environmental professional working in the public and private sectors promoting sound environmental management, Wayne Kober has relied on the wisdom of the multitude of Pennsylvania conservation leaders. Often faced with tough decisions regarding resource protection, he found confidence in knowing that he could stand on the shoulders of Pennsylvania conservation pioneers like Maurice Goddard, Ralph Abele, and Gifford Pinchot.

Dr. Kenneth C. Wolensky is a Pennsylvania historian who has published 6 books and over 25 articles on industrial, business, public policy, labor and environmental history topics. He served as senior historian for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission from 1996-2011, is past president of the Pennsylvania Historical Association, teaches at Lebanon Valley College and is principal of KCW History and Heritage Associates which provides institutional history and archival services to non-profits, government agencies and business.